Realizing His True Feelings
by booklover333
Summary: Naruto is finally back from training with Jiraiya for 3 years but he has many adventures and challenges in the future that are waiting for him.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: The characters belong to Masashi Kishimoto, the creator of Naruto and I don't own them.**

**I am new at writing fanfiction, so it might be terrible, I am sorry, but please review, it would mean so much! Thanks!**

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Chapter 1:

"R-Really?" The navy haired girl timidly asked.

Her pink haired friend nodded vigorously, "Yeah!"

Naruto-kun…it's been 3 years. You have finally returned. Thank you. She thought, blushing slightly at the thought of seeing him after so long. Her friend grabbed her hand and pulled her along to the Hokage tower. "S-Sakura-chan!" She said, startled.

"Come on! Let's go meet Naruto!" Sakura chanted.

When the two kunoichi reached the Hokage tower, they ran to Tsunade's office and Sakura knocked on the door. A grunt came in response, to tell her to come in. Sakura came in, dragging a hesitant, blushing girl behind her.

"Oh, Sakura, Hinata. Hello." Tsunade said.

"SAKURA-CHAN!" A voice came. Sakura was tackled by a blur of blonde.

"Hey, Naruto." She said, hugging him back. "You're finally back."

"Yeah." Naruto released her and then turned to Hinata, "Hey, Hinata! How have you been?"

"Hello, N-Naruto-kun. I-I've b-been good." Hinata stuttered.

Naruto smiled in response.

"Ahem." A voice came from the doorway, there was a man with only his right eye visible, the rest covered with a mask. His hair was defying gravity and silver. He had an orange book in his hand. "Yo."

"Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto yelled. He ran over to greet his former teacher. "How have you been?"

"Well enough. You have grown, Naruto." He observed, patting his ex-student's head softly.

Naruto laughed, "Height is not the only thing I have grown in, I am way stronger now, thanks to Ero-Sennin."

Kakashi smirked and said, "How is Sensei by the way?"

"Good." A new voice said. Kakashi turned around to see Jiraiya there, smiling, "Long time, no see, eh, Kakashi?"

"Yeah."

Afterwards, when Naruto had greeted everyone again, Tsunade wanted Sakura and Naruto to go and train with Kakashi.

"Let's see how much you two have grown." Kakashi said. He pulled out two familiar bells, "Same rules as when you were kids."

Naruto smirked, "YOSH! LET'S DO THIS SAKURA-CHAN!" He held up his hand, telling her to high-five him.

Sakura rolled her eyes, "Naruto, don't make me punch you when I haven't seen you have for 3 years."

Naruto looked offended, "Sakura-chan." He pouted and put down his hand.

Kakashi laughed at their behavior, "Okay, start." And with that he vanished, leaving a trail of dust behind.

"Damn it!" Naruto exclaimed, "Where did he go?" He looked around frantically.

Sakura however, remained calm and closed her eyes, trying to sense his chakra. She noticed that it was nearby. She looked around, no one was there, which only meant one thing. "BELOW!" She punched the ground, which in result made the ground crack and rocks were thrown everywhere, "SHANNARO!" She screamed. There, in the rubble Kakashi was standing in the now destroyed ground, staring wide-eyed with his one visible eye.

Damn. Kakashi and Naruto both thought. Tsunade smirked, happy that her apprentice was doing so well. Shizune smiled as well. Jiraiya and Hinata who were watching were impressed and kind of scared.

Sakura smiled sheepishly and charged at Kakashi.

An hour later, Sakura and Naruto were panting, each holding a bell in their hand.

"You both really have grown." Kakashi admitted.

They all laughed. "Let's go get ramen! I am dying for Ichiraku's!" Naruto yelled, his fist in the air.

Same as always, Naruto. Sakura and Kakashi both thought. Nonetheless, they all went to Ichiraku Ramen and Naruto practically inhaled 6 bowls of ramen. Tsunade and Shizune had to go back to the Hokage tower, to finish some more paperwork. Jiraiya decided to go with them and Hinata had to go train with her father.

When Naruto was finishing his 6th bowl, he slammed down the bowl and said, "Thanks for treating us, Kakashi-sensei!" and dashed out with Sakura following him, laughing.

Kakashi sighed and paid for everything, They were so cute when they were younger, now they are just plain mean.

Naruto and Sakura walked around the village together, "I noticed that Obaa-chan's face is finally on the Hokage Mountain."

Sakura nodded, "Mmm-hmm," she gave him a sidelong glance, "And you really shouldn't call her that in front of her. You don't want to be near her when she is mad, trust me."

Naruto laughed, "It's fun getting her mad."

Sakura laughed as well.

"So," Naruto said, getting serious, "Teme hasn't come back, has he?"

Sakura's gaze dropped to the floor, "No, there hasn't been word from him since he left."

Naruto didn't respond, opting to glare at the ground in front of him.

Sakura stopped walking and looked over at Naruto, "You don't know how much it means that you came back. When you were gone, there was no one. Both of my teammates were gone and I felt like I had no one to go to. That's why I trained all the time."

Naruto's eyes filled with pity and shame, "I'm so sorry, Sakura-chan."

"It's okay, at least you are back now." She offered him a smile, which he returned.

"NARUTO-NIICHAN!" A child's voice came from behind them.

They both turned around to see Konohamaru.

"Konohamaru! How have you been? It's been so long!" Naruto said.

"I LEARNED A NEW JUTSU!" He said, instead of answering.

"Oh, really?"

Konohamaru made some hand seals and started to say, "Oiroke no Jutsu," when someone punched him. "KONOHAMARU! YOU WOULDN'T DARE TO DO THAT IN FRONT OF A LADY!"

"Moegi!" He complained, holding his head.

Moegi crossed her arms and looked away, "Hmph!"

"Sorry, nii-chan, I couldn't show you my amazing technique." Konohamaru apologized. Udon was behind Moegi, looking at Konohamaru, to see if he was alright.

Naruto laughed slightly, "Konohamaru," he started, "You shouldn't do silly jutsus like that anymore." His eyes burned with fire and he held up a fist, "YOU NEED TO GET BETTER AT THEM! LET ME DEMONSTRATE!" Naruto screamed. He made the same hand seals and got through saying "Oiroke no-" when Sakura had punched him. Hard. He crashed to the ground a few feet away.

She walked up to Naruto, picked him up and started to shake him roughly. "WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?! THEY ARE LITTLE CHILDREN! WHY WOULD YOU SHOW THAT TO THEM?! BAKA!"

Udon, Moegi and Konohamaru stared wide-eyed and in fear. They quickly ran away.

The rest of the day, Naruto and Sakura walked around Konoha. Naruto sighed as the sunlight fell perfectly on him, This sure feels nostalgic, he thought, looking out on Konoha.

At the end of the day, Naruto went back home to his apartment. As soon as he entered his old home, he glanced at the old Team 7 photo. He sighed sadly and put his bag on his bed, which resulted in a large cloud of dust forming. Naruto coughed, "I should really clean this place up."

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door.

"Coming!" Naruto shouted. When he opened the door, he saw Hinata standing there. "Hey, Hinata! What brings you here?"

"Um…T-Tsunade-sama wanted me to tell you that your and my team are to report to the Hokage Tower tomorrow morning. S-Sakura-san couldn't tell you as she was busy at the hospital."

"Oh." Naruto said, Maybe it's a mission! YES! "Okay, thanks."

"D-Do you need any help settling in again? D-Do y-you want me to help cl-clean your apartment?" Hinata asked shyly.

"Oh, um, sure. Thanks! I am not really good at cleaning things." Naruto laughed nervously.

Hinata smiled shyly and they both went into Naruto's apartment. For the next hour, they both cleaned his small apartment. Hinata was blushing most of the time from happiness and nervousness of being with Naruto alone.

When they were done, Naruto said, "Thanks, Hinata. You are really kind."

"Y-You're welcome, Naruto-kun."

"To repay you, let's go get ramen!" Naruto yelled, grabbing Hinata's hand and pulling her out of his apartment.

Hinata furiously blushed, on the fact that Naruto was holding her hand. She finally regained her senses and held on tighter, happy. When they reached Ichiraku Ramen, Hinata asked, "D-Didn't you already have r-ramen today, N-Naruto-kun?"

"Yeah, but that was lunch. I'm hungry again, now."

Hinata giggled at his response.

Naruto sheepishly laughed as well.

When they were done eating, Naruto walked Hinata home, "Thanks for everything today, Hinata."

"T-Thank you for dinner. B-But you didn't have to p-pay for m-me." Hinata replied.

"Well, it was to repay you for cleaning my apartment with me."

Hinata blushed and said, "If…If you ever need something else. Tell me."

Naruto smiled in response.

When Hinata went inside her house, Naruto walked home slowly, thinking of many things.

"Where have you been?!" Hinata's father bellowed.

Hinata cowered in fear and eyes averted to the ground said, "I was with N-Naruto-kun. I helped him clean his apartment and then he took me out to d-dinner."

"I told you to stay away from that boy!"

"I-It has been 3 years since I last saw him." She said.

"I don't care. You are not to see that boy ever again! He is a monster and you are not to be with him!"

Hinata's eyes saddened. Her father was always lowering her self-esteem like this.

"And how dare you have the nerve? You should have been training with Hinabi when you were out goofing around with that...that thing." He said it like it disgusted him. "Is that why you didn't want to come home? So you wouldn't have to be beaten by your younger sister, yet again? You are absolutely worthless and a disgrace to the Hyuuga family!"

Hinata's eyes filled with tears but she refused to let them fall. She had been training all yesterday night and morning until Sakura came with the news that Naruto was back. She was constantly trying to train harder so that she could prove to her father that she was not worthless, that she was worthy of being the heiress, so that she be acknowledged for once. How much harder was she supposed to try? She often collapsed from training too intensely and exhaustion, but she still picked herself up and kept going for her father, so she could be noticed for once. But still, it wasn't enough. She always felt like nothing was enough for her father to satisfied.

"F-Father, I'm sorry, but I do train. A-A lot. A-And I hope that you can recognize it for once-" She was cut off, because a hand came down on her face, hard.

"Worthless!" Her father said.

Hinata looked up at her father, frightened and said, "I-I'm sorry." Then she ran out of the house, not looking back. She finally let the tears flow down her face and she wondered if the sky was crying too, it was raining now. She ran and ran, not knowing where she was going, until she bumped into someone and fell. "I-I'm so sorry." She looked up at the person, realizing it was Naruto.

"Hinata?" He helped her up, "What are you doing here? Why are you crying?"

This made Hinata cry harder and Naruto's gaze softened looking at

her tears. He picked Hinata up and ran home, Hinata crying all the way there.

Once they were home, Naruto gave her some of his dry clothes and once they both showered and were dry, Naruto asked, "Hinata? What's wrong, you can tell me." They were both sitting on the floor, leaning back on Naruto's bed.

Hinata stayed silent for a while until she said, "My...My father thinks that I am

worthless and a disgrace to the Hyuuga family."

Naruto looked at her with sympathy evident in his eyes and wrapped an arm around her shoulder. Hinata leaned into him and silent tears streamed down her fragile face.

"He always says that." She sniffled. "I-I train so much, all day and night, just so that h-he could acknowledge me. So I can prove that I am not worthless, that I am worthy of becoming the Hyuuga heiress."

Naruto's eyes widened, She is like me. I used to train so hard, wanting to become stronger, so that someone, anyone could notice me.

His grip on her tightened and he said, "I'm so sorry, Hinata."

Hinata cried for some more, with Naruto holding her tightly and stroking her hair, silent the whole time.

After a while later, Hinata stood and said, "I should get back to my father, he is probably worried."

But Naruto grabbed her hand and pulled her down, "No, I'm not letting you go near him anymore. He is too much of an ass to let you anywhere near him."

Hinata said, "B-But Naruto-kun."

"No! I'm not going to let you get hurt. I don't like seeing you cry." He then put a gentle hand on her face, "It doesn't match with a beautiful face like yours."

Hinata blushed and put her own hand on top of his, "T-Thank you, Naruto-kun."

"Come on, let's go to your house, but only so we can get your things. You can live with me for a while."

Hinata blushed, "N-Naruto-kun, you don't h-have to do that."

"I want to, come on. Let's go."

They silently ran to Hinata's house and crept up to the roof, where they slid in skillfully through her window. Hinata grabbed a bag and stuffed some clothes, personal items, pillow and a blanket. They left the Hyuuga Compound without being caught.

When they reached back to Naruto's apartment, Naruto said, "Take the bed, I'll sleep on the floor."

"N-No! I-I can't let you do that. Y-You have already done enough."

"You're the guest."

Hinata said, "I-I know, but still, please, Naruto-kun."

"Please don't make this hard for me, Hinata, I mean you're a girl and I can't let you sleep on the floor. WHAT KIND OF GUY WOULD THAT MAKE ME?"

Hinata giggled. "Just please, let me sleep on the floor."

"You know what, we can both share the bed, I know you are not going to give up. You're too nice for that." Naruto reasoned.

Hinata blushed and avoided his gaze, "O-Okay."

They both climbed in his bed, pulling the sheets over them both. The bed was just big enough for both of them to fit, but they were still pretty close. Hinata, still blushing, said, "G-Good night, N-Naruto-kun."

Something about her being there comforted Naruto and made him sleepy, "Goodnight, Ramen." His words came out slurred.

"Ramen?" Hinata giggled.

"Oh…" Naruto blushed, "Y-You know how sometimes people give other people nicknames?"

Hinata nodded.

"Well, sometimes, they name it off food they love, AND I LOOOOVE RAMEN, so yeah." Naruto was still blushing.

Hinata smiled, "Thank you, Zenzai." **(A/N: I don't really know, but it is just cute. Zenzai and cinnamon rolls are her favorite foods, it says on Narutopedia.)**

Naruto laughed. He then wrapped an arm around her waist and snuggled closer, pulling her back flush against his chest.

Hinata blushed at how close they were and hoped that she wouldn't faint, which she didn't because instead, she fell asleep peacefully in the arms of the boy she had loved for years.

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**Author's Note:**

**Doesn't that make you all warm inside? It made me feel all fluffy, lol. Please review, I want to see if I should continue this. Thanks!**

**~ booklover333**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: The characters belong to Masashi Kishimoto, the creator of Naruto and I don't own them.**

**I am new at writing fanfiction, so it might be terrible, I am sorry, but please review, it would mean so much! Thanks!**

**And I updated the first chapter, so please go back and read that. It's only some small things that you might not notice, but I did. Thanks!**

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Chapter 2:

The next morning, they both woke up and blushed at how close they were. Scrambling away from each other, Naruto mumbled something about taking a shower and lunged for the bathroom, leaving Hinata bright red, fingers fidgeting.

Did yesterday really happen? It feels like a dream. Hinata thought. Lost in her thoughts, she didn't notice Naruto come out of the shower, hair dripping wet.

"Oi!" Naruto yelled, shaking Hinata, making her come out of her daydreaming. Naruto laughed at her shocked expression, "I called for you like 5 times. You can go take a shower if you want."

Hinata looked at him and said, "Y-Yes. Thank you, N-Naruto-kun." Then she jumped up and went into the bathroom. Taking a quick shower, she changed into her clothes that she had taken with her. Drying her hair with a towel, she walked out to see Naruto making some instant ramen.

"H-Hello, N-Naruto-kun." She said.

Naruto turned around, "Hey, Hinata!" Then he gave her a bowl full of ramen, "Want some?"

Hinata laughed, "D-Do you really only eat ramen?"

Naruto rubbed the back of his head and laughed nervously, "Heh. Most of the time, but I do eat other things."

Hinata shook her head at him, "Yes, thank you." She took the bowl from him, "B-But today, I'll go shopping and we can have something other than ramen."

"Okay! But, can we still have ramen for lunch?" Naruto inquired.

Hinata giggled, "S-Sure."

"YES!" He screamed, hugging Hinata, making her blush. When he released her, he noticed that her face was bright red, "Hinata?" He put his hand on her forehead, "Are you feeling okay?"

That was more than enough to make her faint.

"HINATA!" Naruto screamed, catching her before she hit the ground due to her fainting. "OH MY GOD, SHE'S DEAD! NOOOO!" Naruto yelled.

Hinata's eyes fluttered open.

"Hinata?" Naruto said quietly. When he noticed that she was okay, he hugged her again and said, "HINATA! YOU AREN'T DEAD!"

Hinata laughed, "N-No, I'm not. B-But could you let go, I-I can't breathe properly."

"Oh!" Naruto released her instantly, not wanting her to faint again, "Sorry." He said sheepishly.

"I-It's fine."

Once they had had their breakfast and had dressed in their ninja attire, they went to the Hokage Tower.

Sai and Kakashi were on missions so Sakura and Naruto were instructed to meet at the Hokage Tower, as long as Hinata's team.

When they reached there, Sakura, Shino and Kiba were already there.

"Hello, Naruto and Hinata." Tsunade said when they walked in after knocking.

"Good morning, Tsunade-obaa-chan!" Naruto said cheerily.

Tsunade's eyebrow twitched at the name, but said nothing about it. "Okay, now that everyone is here." She laced her fingers together, resting her elbows on her desk, "You all have a mission."

"All of us?! Together?!" Naruto exclaimed.

Tsunade sighed"Yes, Naruto."

Tsunade continued, "You all have a group mission that is S-Ranked."

"S-RANKED?!" Naruto interrupted again.

"YES, NARUTO! NOW LET ME FINISH BEFORE YOU START COMMENTING ON EVERYTHING!" Tsunade screamed.

"O-Okay." Naruto quietly answered.

Tsunade sighed, "As I was saying, the mission is to observe a hideout that is said to be found in the Land of Earth that may have been used by the Akatsuki before. The other jounin in the village are currently out on other missions so we have to give it other ninjas. It is S-Ranked because other dangerous shinobi might be there as well. Sakura is the team captain. It will take you about a week to get there, so pack well. You leave tomorrow morning at 8:00."

She dismissed everyone but told Hinata to stay back. "Hinata." Tsunade said, once everyone had left. "I am aware that you have run away from home. Your father has contacted me, saying he is worried."

Hinata's eyes narrowed slightly, Why would father care about me? He has no pride or faith in me. But she didn't say anything to Tsunade, instead opting to look at her shoes.

"I am going to send a letter, saying that you are safe. But…Hinata…I decided to give your team this mission not only because of your tracking and observation skills, but as well because since you will be away from home for so long, I would hope that this would give you enough time to think about what to do."

Hinata nodded, "T-Thank you, Tsunade-sama."

Tsunade smiled slightly, "But, Hinata, where are you staying now?"

Hinata blushed, "A-At N-Naruto-kun's apartment."

Tsunade smiled knowingly, she knew about Hinata's major crush on Naruto, almost everyone did, except for Naruto himself, because he was so dense. "Ah."

"B-But please don't tell my f-father that." Hinata blurted out, "H-He doesn't approve of N-Naruto-kun."

Tsunade smiled widely, "You two sound like you're dating. Is there something you want to tell me Hinata?" She greatly enjoyed seeing Hinata getting redder and redder by each word she said.

"N-No! It's...It's not like that! I-I promise!"

Tsunade laughed, "Yeah, I know. That idiot is too dense notice how beautiful and strong you are."

Hinata blushed. She rarely got compliments and she had just gotten one from the Hokage, one of the best kunoichi in the world, "T-Thank you."

When Hinata left, Naruto was still waiting for her outside, "Hinata! What happened? What did obaa-chan want with you?"

"O-Oh, nothing important."

Since Naruto was too oblivious to notice her blushing, he said, "Do you want to go and train, Hinata-chan?" Naruto asked "Afterwards, we go and eat ramen!"

"S-Sure, Naruto-kun." Hinata answered, relieved that he didn't notice something off about her.

For the next 4 hours, Naruto and Hinata both relentlessly trained. They sparred with each other, worked on their own techniques and chakra control.

Naruto taught Hinata to be more aggressive when she attacked others and Hinata taught Naruto better chakra control.

Afterwards, they, true to Hinata's word, had ramen. Then, they went shopping for groceries to make dinner.

Once they got back home, they both took a quick shower and packed their bags for their mission.

When they were done packing, Hinata made dinner.

"Do you want help, Hinata?" Naruto asked.

"S-Sure." She said, handing him a knife and an apron, "Can you cut those vegetables for me?"

"Sure." Naruto said. He took the apron, putting it on quickly and then taking the knife from her and starting to cut, but the knife slipped and cut his finger. "Owww!" Naruto howled.

Hinata quickly bandaged him up and said, "You have to hold the knife straight and securely, Naruto-kun."

"Hehe, sorry."

For the next half an hour, they both made dinner and afterwards, when they were eating, Naruto exclaimed, "This is great, Hinata!"

Hinata blushed, "T-Thank you."

A while after dinner, they decided to go to sleep, in the same position as the previous night, though this time, they were both facing each other, legs tangled, arms wrapped around each other protectively, like they refused to let go.

The next day, they both woke up early, took a shower, brushed and ate a quick breakfast before they rushed out the door to meet with their other team members at the front gates of Konoha.

Sakura and Shino were already there, waiting for everyone else. Kiba got there a few minutes after Naruto and Hinata did.

"Okay!" Sakura said, "Now, that's everyone here, we can go." And with that, they ran out the village and jumped from tree to tree.

After almost 5 hours of non-stop traveling, with the exception of a few breaks, Sakura decided that they should take a lunch break.

After lunch, they rested for a bit, before Sakura said that it was time to head off again.

"Sakura-chhhyyyyyaaaaaaaaaaaannn!" Naruto whined, "We have been traveling for 6 hours! Can we please stop?"

Sakura looked at the sun, which was starting to set and sighed, "I guess so."

Everyone jumped down from the trees and found a good open space that they could use for settling down.

Darkness quickly fell upon them and they ate a small dinner cooked by Hinata and Sakura and fell asleep.

The days flew by and before they knew it, they had reached the Land of Earth. It only took them 5 days to reach there even when Tsunade told them it would take about a week because they ran hastily, trying to get the mission done in record timing.

On the fifth day, it was around noon and the group had just finished eating lunch.

"It should be right over…" Sakura said, looking at the map, then at her surroundings, "There!" She pointed where near Kiba was standing, but there were trees behind him. They looked through the opening of the trees to see a lake.

"Um...Sakura, I'm pretty sure their hideout wouldn't be on a lake." Kiba stated.

Sakura was confused, she knew she was in the right location, she had followed the map perfectly, so the only other thing would be… "Genjutsu!" She yelled out, quietly though. "It's probably a genjutsu!" She made a seal and yelled out, "Release!" And slowly the river began to fade away, leaving a wall of rock.

Sakura smirked and quietly her and the group ran to it. They tried pushing the rock out of the way, but it was too heavy.

"SHANNARO!" Sakura yelled as she enforced a chakra-infused fist into the wall and the rocks instantly crumbled, forming a mini pathway appeared for them.

"Remind me to not get her angry." Kiba whispered to Naruto, who nodded in agreement.

They walked around the rubble and went inside with caution.

"Guys." Kiba said suddenly, his eyes widening, realizing something. "I-I can smell Sasuke's scent here. It's somewhat faint, but he was here." Akamaru barked, agreeing.

Sakura and Naruto's eyes widened in shock.

"There are 3 other people with him as well."

Naruto and Sakura looked at each other in confusion.

Hinata remained calm and asked, "K-Kiba-kun, do you have any idea how long ago he could have been here?" Her voice filled with confidence that she hadn't had for most of her life.

"About a day ago. He went," Kiba closed his eyes for a moment before opening them, "South."

"Then let's go." Shino said.

While they were traveling, Kiba alerted everyone by saying, "He's close."

Naruto, determined to meet Sasuke, sped up, making everyone speed up as well.

"He knows that we are coming after him because Akamaru says that he has a sensory-type ninja traveling with him." Kiba said.

They reached where Kiba said that he had last sensed him, but no one detected chakra anywhere near them.

"I-It's like he vanished." Kiba said.

Naruto growled, "Then let's find him! Come on! Which way Kiba?!"

"Let's keep going the way we were."

"Fine."

After another hour of traveling, Kiba, Shino and Hinata could sense him again, "H-He stopped, but he is still far away." Hinata said.

Akamaru barked in agreement. Shino and Kiba nodded as well.

Naruto sped up even more, leaving everyone to trail behind him.

In the next 2 hours, they finally reached where Sasuke had supposedly stopped and hopped down from the trees.

"W-What happened here?" Sakura asked.

The ground was in shambles, looking even worse than when Sakura had punched

the ground during training with Kakashi.

"Sasuke had a fight with someone who I don't recognize, but his chakra is very much like Sasuke's."

Naruto and Sakura looked at each other again and hoped it wasn't someone that they were both thinking of.

Itachi. They both thought.

"Damn it!" Naruto said, punching the ground, bruising his knuckles. "Damn it, damn it, damn it!" He yelled, punching the ground between every phrase. Both his hands were bleeding heavily.

Sakura tried to stop him but he didn't listen.

He punched the ground until he finally realized what he was doing. Naruto stopped, tears pricking at his eyes, "Why doesn't he want to come back?! Why is he running away?!" He paused, punching the ground once more. "Why is that, even now, I can never catch up to him, that he will always be one step ahead of me?!"

Sakura and Hinata looked at him sympathetically. Akamaru whined caringly for his comrade.

"Why?!" Naruto furiously swiped his eyes full of any tears and stood up, ignoring his bloodied hands. "Which way now Kiba?!"

"Naruto-" Kiba tried to reason, but was cut off.

"No! We need to find him, we need to make him-"

"N-Naruto-kun, maybe it's for the best." Hinata quietly said. "We are never going to find him like this. We should ask for help from Tsunade-sama first."

"Yeah, but-"

"Naruto." Sakura said. "Hinata's right. Let's just go. H-He's…He's not worth it."

"S-Sakura-chan." Naruto said. Then he paused, looking down. "Fine." He spat out, hands clenching. "But we are coming back. I swear it! I am not giving up my promise to you, Sakura-chan. Ever!"

Sakura smiled and in silence, they all went to find somewhere to settle down for the night.

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**Author's Note:**

**What did you think? Good? Not good? Sorry if it isn't! But please review! Thanks! BYE!**

**~ booklover333**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: The characters belong to Masashi Kishimoto, the creator of Naruto and I don't own them.**

**I am new at writing fanfiction, so it might be terrible, I am sorry, but please review, it would mean so much! Thanks!**

**Hiiiiiiiiiiii! I'm so sorry that I haven't updated in about like...um...3 months...? Hehe...sorry? I'M SO SORRY! It's just that my priority was to finish Melting the Human Ice Cube first and now that that is _finally_ done, I can update this! So I'm going to try to update every week, or every two weeks. So stay in tune and REVIEW! **

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Chapter 3:

The group settled down not far from the hideout, but still far enough so that they could be hidden from other possible shinobi.

Naruto lay awake that night, staring at the stars, wondering what Sasuke was doing and why he didn't want to come back home to Konoha. He wondered why Itachi was there. _Did teme and teme's brother have a fight? _

Naruto sighed, turning on his side, before turning back to the stars, _What are you doing right now? Are you looking up at the same stars as I am, teme? _

All these thoughts ran through Naruto's mind as everyone was asleep, except for Hinata, who was beside Naruto. She was especially worried about him.

"N-Naruto-kun?" She called softly.

Naruto looked at her, "Yeah?"

"A-Are you okay?"

Naruto sighed and nodded slightly, looking up back at the stars, "I'm just…confused, Hinata."

Hinata patted Naruto's hand with her own soft one, "If you need to talk about it, you can, N-Naruto-kun.

She was about to pull away when Naruto grabbed her hand. She looked at him, but he was looking away, "I just don't know what to do. I don't understand why Sasuke wouldn't want to come home."

Hinata held on to his own and moved closer, "Maybe S-Sasuke-kun is confused too. M-Maybe he is just trying to figure out where he belongs and what he is supposed to do."

Naruto looked at Hinata with wide eyes, like she had made him realize something. He pulled her closer, into a hug, "Thanks, Hinata."

Hinata blushed and nestled her head in his neck, "You're welcome, Naruto-kun."

Naruto fell asleep, Hinata following him soon after.

The next morning, Sakura and the others observed the hideout more, finding some scrolls. They didn't open them, knowing that there would be a code or a trap or something.

After examining the hideout, when Sakura was content, they left to go back to Konoha.

Sakura knocked on the door to her master's office.

"Come in!" Tsunade said from inside.

Sakura and the others walked in.

Tsunade smirked, "Record timing, like usual."

Once they had reported about their mission, Tsunade thanked them all and took the scrolls from them and then everyone left their different ways.

"Hinata?" Tsunade called.

"Yes, Tsunade-sama?" Hinata answered, everyone else had left except for her

and Naruto.

"Have you decided what you are going to do?" Tsunade asked.

Naruto was confused, "What do you mean, obaa-chan?"

"About what to tell my father, N-Naruto-kun. Tsunade-sama gave me this mission not only for my tracking skills, but so I could think over what to do." Hinata answered instead.

"Oh." Naruto said.

"So? What is your decision, Hinata?" Tsunade asked the kunoichi.

Hinata fidgeted with her fingers, "I-I want to apologize to my father for running out like that but I-I don't think I deserve to live in that house anymore a-and-"

"Why the hell would you apologize to that ass?!" Naruto yelled, making Hinata flinch, "And it's not that you don't deserve to live there, he or that house doesn't deserve _you_!"

"N-Naruto-kun, I-"

"Hinata!" Naruto said, "You can live with me if you want, but I am not letting you live there anymore. Your father doesn't deserve to have a caring and kind daughter as you!"

"N-Naruto-kun." Hinata gasped.

Tsunade raised her eyebrows, unaffected by the blonde's outburst, "So I guess that the current living situation is final?"

Naruto nodded for Hinata, "Yeah, obaa-chan! Hinata can live with me if she wants to!"

Tsunade and Naruto both looked at Hinata, "Well?" Tsunade said.

Hinata looked at Naruto who nodded encouragingly. Hinata sighed and nodded. She felt relieved.

"Well, then that's settled." Tsunade said, "But, Hinata, I do recommend at least talking to your father about this, you are, after all, his daughter and he has a right to know about your whereabouts."

"He has no right to know anything about-!" Naruto started, but got cut off when Hinata spoke.

"I understand, Tsunade-sama. I-I will talk to him." She said, while bowing.

Afterwards, Naruto and Hinata both walked to Naruto's apartment.

There, after a quick lunch, Naruto spoke, "So…do you want to talk to him now?"

Hinata nodded slightly, "I think the sooner it's done, the better."

The walk to the Hyuuga compound was silent. Outside of the Hyuuga compound, they saw Neji, Tenten and Lee, training.

"Hinata-sama!" Neji said, running to Hinata when he spotted her. "We've all been worried about where you were." Then he looked to Naruto, "What are you doing here?"

"N-Neji-nii-san, Naruto-kun came here with me and I'm sorry to have worried

you, but we need to talk to Hiashi-sama."

Neji noticed how she didn't call Hiashi her father, like usual. He furrowed his

eyebrows, but nodded, knowing that Hinata would do the right thing.

Naruto, for once, didn't say anything and just followed Hinata into the compound.

"Hinata?" Someone's voice boomed from a room.

Hinata and Naruto whirled around to see Hiashi, Hinata's father, standing there with a shocked expression on his face.

"What are you doing here?" He said.

Hinata looked at her father, "H-Hiashi-sama, I-I came here to tell you that I sincerely apologize for running away two weeks ago." She stammered. Hinata calmed herself down and looked at her father in the eye, "And I am also here to inform you that I will no longer be living here."

Hiashi scoffed, "I don't care if you don't live here, but where will be residing then?" He crossed his arms.

Hinata stood up straighter, "A-At Naruto-kun's apartment."

Hiashi's gaze finally rested on Naruto, glaring at him. Hiashi scowled, his lips pursing, "With this…this _monster_?"

Naruto gritted his teeth in order to stop himself from lashing out at the man in front of him.

Hinata's eyebrows knitted themselves together, but she shook it off, "Naruto-kun is at least nice enough to care for me. Now if you'll excuse me, I am going to pack the rest of my things."

Hiashi glared at the both of them, "Then I never want to see both of you again in my life, you disgust me. I am officially disowning you, Hinata."

Hinata gasped, tears collecting in her eyes, but she blinked them away, turned around and head to her old room.

But, Naruto, didn't follow her. He glared at Hiashi and said, "Listen! I don't care what the hell you say about me, but insult Hinata again and you'll regret it. She is a brilliant kunoichi and a hundred times more caring and loving than you could ever be!" Before Naruto could continue, Hinata pulled him away, so he wouldn't risk getting hurt from her…father.

After Hinata had packed her belongings, her and Naruto left the Hyuuga compound without saying another word.

Back at Naruto's apartment, Hinata sat on the bed and cried. Naruto put a reassuring arm around her. "I-I just can't believe he is actually _disowning_ me."

Naruto rubbed her back soothingly and rested his chin on top of her head.

After Hinata had stopped crying, she looked up at Naruto, "N-Naruto-kun?"

"Yes?" He responded.

Hinata wiped her eyes, "What did Hiashi-sama mean when he said 'monster?'"

Naruto's expression darkened and he looked down, his bangs covering his eyes. "Hinata. Promise me that you won't be afraid of me after I tell you."

"What do you mean?"

"Just please, promise me!" He looked at her, "I need to know if you'll still be there for me."

Hinata nodded, "I-I promise, Naruto-kun."

Naruto sighed and looked away, "You know the legend of the Kyuubi and how the Kyuubi was sealed into a child?"

Hinata nodded, telling him to continue.

"Well, that child…is me." Naruto warily looked at her, knowing he couldn't make her forget what he had just told her, even if he wanted to. "I-I'm the Jinchuuriki of the Nine Tails."

When she didn't responded, Naruto shook his head, laughing bitterly, "You're afraid aren't you? Or do you hate me now?"

All of a sudden, Naruto felt soft and delicate arms wrapping around him and he froze.

"Naruto-kun, I could never hate you." She said quietly.

"S-So you're not-" He didn't finish his sentence, but he knew he didn't need to.

Hinata smiled at him, "Naruto-kun, you're always going to be Naruto-kun, no matter what. You are always going to be the person I admire so much. Y-You always find the strength to stand up, you never give up and that's why I look up to you. Even when we were younger, I always admired you because of your strength. Unlike you, I don't have self-confidence. When we were in the Academy and when we were genin, you stood up for me, whether it was against boys picking on me or you." Hinata clasped one of Naruto's hands with both of hers.

"Y-You've acknowledged me since I was younger…all I wanted was for someone, anyone to notice me, but…I didn't even notice you."

Hinata smiled, lifting one hand to his cheek, "It's okay, Naruto-kun."

Naruto looked at her and then brought her into a hug, "Thank you, Hinata. For not looking at me like I am a monster, for seeing _me_."

Hinata pulled back and said, "The only person I see is Naruto-kun, a caring, strong, self-confident shinobi."

Naruto smiled and he kissed Hinata on the cheek softly, "Thanks."

Hinata blushed and closed her eyes, leaning on Naruto. "No, Naruto-kun. _Thank you_, for always being there, for being someone I could look up to."

They stayed like that for a while until they decided to go to sleep, once again in the arms of each other.

The weeks went by and everything was as usual. Naruto and Hinata were still living together, they both went on missions, trained and ate.

"Hinata-chan! That was amazing! You're really getting better!" Naruto complimented, out of breath. Naruto had started calling Hinata, "Hinata-chan" since they were closer. They were both training together on an afternoon one day, sparring with each other.

"Thank you, Naruto-kun." She replied.

A bird landed nearby them and Hinata went over, gently prying the scroll out of it's claws before it flew away.

Watching it fly away, she turned back to Naruto who asked, "What's that?" He jogged over.

Hinata shrugged, slowly opening it.

They both read it and without any words, exchanged, ran off to the Hokage tower.

_Naruto, Hinata, _

_I have a special mission for you. It's concerning Sasuke. Come to the Hokage tower as soon as you can. _

_~ Tsunade_

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**Author's Note:**

**DUN DUN DUN! Sasuke...always creating problems, tch. Okay, please review, it means so much to me. THANKS! **

**~ booklover333**


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: The characters belong to Masashi Kishimoto, the creator of Naruto and I don't own them.**

**I am new at writing fanfiction, so it might be terrible, I am sorry, but please review, it would mean so much! Thanks!**

**Heyy! I'm sooooo sorry that I haven't uploaded this story in a while, but um...here? This chapter is kind of short and kind of boring because it leads up to the climax or whatever which is going to happen in the next chapter. SO...please read this &amp; review! Thanks! **

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Chapter 4:

"Tsunade-obaa-chan!" Naruto yelled, bursting through the door of Tsunade's office.

Tsunade looked up from the papers that were scattered everywhere on her cluttered, small desk. "Ah, Naruto, Hinata. I was-"

"What mission?!" Naruto interrupted. He was eager to learn new information about the whereabouts of Sasuke.

Tsunade sighed, clasping her hands together like always. "Patience, Naruto. I was getting to that."

"Well then, hurry up!"

Hinata nudged him slightly, silently telling him to calm down.

"An ANBU team detected Uchiha Sasuke's scent while they were returning from their mission. Near the Land of Rivers."

"That's close! Come on, Obaa-chan, let me go!" Naruto interjected.

Tsunade sighed. "I was planning to, Naruto. But it's too dangerous for you to go alone."

"Then send more people with me then!"

Tsunade closed her eyes, hoping that she wouldn't get a headache. "Team Gai is out on a mission. I need Ino and Sakura at the hospital as we have numerous patients unhealed. Chouji and Shino are needed at clan meetings. You can take Shikamaru, Hinata and Kiba with you."

"That's more than enough!" Naruto started to dash out the door when Tsunade shouted, "I haven't even told you what I need to!"

He turned around with an impatient look on his face. "What is it, obaa-chan?!" he yelled eagerly.

Tsunade sighed. _He's lucky I like him otherwise he would be dead right now…_ "We think that he has some important information concerning the future of Konoha. I can't exactly tell you what is written on the scrolls as that is classified information."

"So you want me to get those back?" Naruto asked.

Tsunade nodded in response. "Yes. But Naruto-" He was out the door before she could finish her sentence.

"Hinata," she turned to the girl who was still in the room, waiting to be properly dismissed.

"Yes, Tsunade-sama?" she inquired.

"Just…make sure he doesn't do anything stupid. Well, this is Naruto we're talking about, so of course he's going to do something stupid, but just make sure he doesn't do anything too stupid, okay?"

Hinata smiled. "Of course, Tsunade-sama." With that, she bowed and before she could walk out of the room, Naruto came running in.

"There you are, Hinata-chan! Come on, let's go get Kiba and Shikamaru and leave already!" Naruto yelled. He grabbed her hand and pulled her along, earning a startled gasp from Hinata.

Tsunade chuckled slightly at them. _They're so different, but I guess Hinata would keep him in line._ She smiled, shaking her head. Then she stood up. _Time to get some Sake._

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"Shikamaru!" Naruto banged on Shikamaru's apartment door. "SHIKAMARU!" Still no response came, "SHIKAMARU! GET YOUR LAZY ASS UP TO ANSWER THE DOOR!"

A few moments later, the door opened and a tired looking Shikamaru stood there, yawning. "What?" he grumbled.

"We have a mission, get dressed!" Naruto said.

"A mission?" Shikamaru echoed, walking back into his house. "For what?" He went into his room and pulled on a shirt.

"I'll explain later!" Naruto replied. "Now, hurry up! I'm going to go get Kiba. Be at the front gates in 5 minutes, okay?!" Without waiting for a response, he ran to Kiba's house, Hinata still behind him.

"Kiba!" Naruto exclaimed, when they saw him. He was walking back to his house with Akamaru, grocery bags in each arm. Akamaru was holding one in his mouth.

"Hey, Naruto, Hinata!" he said when he saw them.

"Come on, we've got a mission!" Naruto replied instead of greeting him back.

"We?" Kiba asked.

Naruto nodded. "You, me, Hinata-chan and Shikamaru."

"Oh," Kiba said. "For what?"

"I'll explain on the way, now go home and get ready! Meet us at the front gates in five minutes!"

"Okay, okay," Kiba said.

Five minutes later, everyone was at the front gates of Konoha.

"Let's go!" Naruto yelled.

"Can you tell us what this troublesome mission is about yet?" Shikamaru complained as soon as they left.

"There have been sightings of Sasuke near the Land or Rivers," Naruto responded.

"What?" Kiba asked.

Naruto nodded. "Yeah. Tsunade-obaa-chan says that he has some important scrolls that are important to Konoha that we need to retrieve."

"Did she say what information was on the scrolls?" Shikamaru asked, a bit more intrigued now.

Naruto shook his head, jumping from one tree to another, "No. It's classified."

Shikamaru nodded. "Do you know where he got them from?"

Naruto shook his head. "That teme probably stole them from somewhere."

"Then what are we waiting for?" Kiba said. "Let's speed up!"

Everyone agreed and increased their running speed.

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"Naruto, I think that we should slow down a bit. Hinata's getting tired," Kiba said.

"W-What? Kiba-kun! I'm not. We can keep going," Hinata insisted.

Naruto looked back at her and noticed that, despite her words, she was indeed fatigued. "Let's take a break for a minute."

Everybody dropped to the ground.

"N-Naruto-kun, if this is for me, p-please don't do this. I-I'm fine. Really!"

Naruto grinned, patting her head. "No, besides I wanted water. Not everything's about you, Hinata-chan!"

Hinata blushed. "S-Sorry," she said, embarrassed.

Naruto nudged her, sitting down, motioning her to sit down beside him and she did. "Don't be, Hinata-chan. I was kidding." He stretched his legs and leaned his head on her shoulder, closing his eyes.

Hinata flushed happily. "O-Okay." She leaned her head on his softly, but she didn't close her eyes.

She couldn't keep up with all that had happened these past few days. Her father hitting her. Naruto letting her stay with him. Being disowned.

Her cheeks flushed red thinking back to the time when Naruto kissed her cheek. She was happy, but at the same time, indescribably sad. She was _disowned_, for God's sake. Was she even allowed to call herself a Hyuuga anymore?

"Guys," Kiba cleared his throat. "I think we should head out again, if we want to reach him by noon."

Hinata lifted her head and nodded. "Yes, I agree."

"Tch. Troublesome," Shikamaru said, but he got up anyway.

Everyone looked at Naruto who didn't say anything, but how could he? He was sleeping.

Hinata giggled at his cute face when he was asleep. It was funny and cute how quickly he fell asleep when near Hinata.

"Naruto-kun," Hinata said, shaking him slightly.

His eyes flew open. "No!" he screamed.

"W-What happened, Naruto-kun?" Hinata said worriedly.

Naruto looked at her, sadness in his eyes that worried Hinata further. "I lost the ramen eating contest!"

Hinata sighed, happy that it wasn't anything serious, well, to Naruto it was. "Naruto-kun, y-you scared me!" she leaned back on the tree. She thought something terrible had happened in his dream.

"Yeah, idiot. Why'd you get so worked up over a ramen eating contest? It was a just a dream!" Kiba said.

Naruto looked offended. "It's important to me!"

Kiba rolled his eyes.

Hinata laughed.

Naruto pouted.

Shikamaru scratched his head and said, "Can we move now?"

"Yeah, let's go," Kiba agreed.

Hinata nodded and got up.

Naruto sighed and got up too. They jumped for the trees once more.

* * *

"Guys," Kiba suddenly said after a while. "I can smell his scent nearby."

Akamaru barked.

"Akamaru says that there are the same 3 other people there were last time," Kiba looked at Naruto carefully who was looking straight ahead.

Naruto's jaw hardened. "I'm not losing him this time too," he spat. "Let's go." He increased his speed more than before and everyone struggled to catch up with him.

"Byakugan!" Hinata said, veins forming near her eyes. She felt uncertain about using her clan's special technique. Was she allowed to? Neverthemore, she scanned the area for chakra signatures, finding 4 of them only 3 miles ahead. "They're only 3 miles ahead of us. Let's keep going in the same direction we are."

When they reached 3 miles ahead, Sasuke's scent was not there.

"Huh?" Kiba said. "He was right...here."

Akamaru suddenly barked upwards.

Everybody looked to the branches of the tall trees above them There, stood Uchiha Sasuke, leaning against a tree branch, 3 people on the surrounding branches.

One was big with orange, spiky hair. The other had white with tints of blue hair and shark-like teeth that were visible when he smirked. The last had fiery, red hair and glasses, her clothes were short.

"Naruto," Sasuke said in his low, smooth voice when he saw him.

"Sasuke," Naruto breathed out, panting from the run they had just done.

Everybody else on Naruto's team had the same thought. _Now what?_

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**Author's Note**:

Dun, dun, DUH! hehe. What's going to happen next? Stay tune for the next chapter which will be uploaded...I have no idea when, but when it get's written. The moment after I edit it, I will upload it. I know this chapter was kinda short and boring, but the next one is going to be FILLED with action, so yeah. Thanks for reading and pleasssssseeee review! It helps me write more and faster. Thanks!

~ booklover333


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer**: **The characters belong to Masashi Kishimoto, the creator of Naruto, and I don't own them. But I do own the plot, so DON'T TRY AND STEAL IT! IT'S MY IMAGINATION!**

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**Chapter 5: **

"_Naruto," Sasuke said in his low, smooth voice when he saw him. _

"_Sasuke," Naruto breathed out, panting from the run they had just done. _

_Everybody else on Naruto's team had the same thought. _Now what?

Without a word, Naruto and Sasuke charged at each other, Naruto's kunai and Sasuke's sword clashing together, making a sound that resonated throughout the whole forest. Birds flew in the air, away from the loud sound.

"You teme," Naruto growled.

Sasuke smirked. "Dobe."

They jumped away from each other and charged again.

Hinata and the others watched on, with worry for their friend, when the 3 "accomplices" of Sasuke charged at them as well.

The big one, with orange spiky hair ran at Kiba, who got ready to fight, whipping out a kunai as Akamaru barked threateningly at the attacker, readying himself in a position that showed he was ready to lunge at him. The white haired one, with the blue tints in it, ran towards Shikamaru, who gave a small sigh, muttering out his favorite term and jumped away to a further tree when his enemy jumped on the same branch he was previously standing on. The third, the red haired one with revealing clothing, lunged at the unexpecting Hyuuga girl who gave a gasp and blocked the other's kunai with her own at the last second.

_Naruto-kun! _Hinata immediately thought when she heard a groan, but she couldn't look over at him to see if he was alright, too occupied with the red head furiously trying to attack her.

_Her form is off, _Hinata thought. _It doesn't seem as strong as a kunoichi. She's a sensory ninja, so she's probably not that good of a fighter. I can take her! Come on, Hinata! You can do this! _

Hinata knocked away the girl's kunai and as they both landed on the ground, taking a break from the trees, she instantly got into her "Gentle Fist" position. "Jūken!" she yelled and she attacked the girl, all with the mindset of hoping to see Naruto alive and well.

The redheaded girl flew backwards and landed on her back ungracefully. She coughed, some blood coming out of her mouth.

Hinata bit her lip. She never did like hurting people. But for Naruto...she would. With the time she had bought, she looked up at Naruto and Sasuke, who were still in the trees. Their clothes were both torn a bit, but Sasuke still had a calm expression and he even dared to have a small smirk on his face, but Naruto was full of anger. He was full of rage and even with the quick glance Hinata gave them, she could see his callousness. Hinata could tell another, different, _deadly _aura was coming off of him.

His teeth started to grow becoming fang-like. His eyes turned red and he growled.

_I-Is this the Kyuubi coming out? Is this what is inside of Naruto-kun? _Hinata thought as she looked on, her fist clenching in worry. She had never seen the Kyuubi, only hearing stories - mainly from the villagers - of how horrible its wrath was. But she wouldn't believe it. She wouldn't believe that such a horrible thing could be inside Naruto. She believed - no, _knew_ \- she knew that there was more to it. More than what the villagers said. They had always hated the Kyuubi and its holder as well, so she didn't believe them. She knew that Naruto could do anything he wanted to if he put his mind to it and she didn't believe that he would let the Kyuubi take control of him. She believed in him.

She heard a groan near her and escaping from her thoughts, she looked towards the girl she was fighting with last was, now seeing her trying to get up. Hinata knew that in order to make sure Naruto was okay and aid him, she would have to end the fight with this girl first.

The girl stood up weakly and Hinata got into the traditional Hyuuga fighting position, ready. _I need to finish this quickly! For Naruto-kun!_

As soon as the girl starting moving, Hinata gave a shout: "Jūho Sōshiken" and tried her new move on the girl that she had recently master.

Red hair was blown everywhere because of the impact and the girl flew back and slammed against the hard rock wall behind her.

Flinching only slightly, Hinata paused and ran over to her - discovering she was unconscious. She - just in case - pressed some of the girl's chakra points so that when she aroused, she would be weak and have trouble getting up. Hinata had learned to be tougher while fighting, to not hold back in fear of hurting her opponent seriously, to stop being so fragile when fighting, courtesy of Neji and her father. Hinata had learned that in the ninja world, life was cruel, so she had to be just as cruel while fighting in it. However, that didn't mean that her personality was cruel, just some of her actions during battle. Simply, she was tougher - mentally, emotionally, and most importantly, physically. It took a while, but she had gotten there, but only by ignoring the side of her that wanted to stop hurting others, to stop fighting others.

Letting out a small exhale, she looked over to Naruto and Sasuke. They were both panting and Naruto had…t-two tails?!

Glancing at her other teammates, she noticed Shikamaru was gone and Kiba was currently in a heated battle with his opponent. Knowing they would be fine, Hinata turned her gaze back to Naruto.

His fangs looked more menacing than before and his eyes…those beautiful, caring eyes that Hinata loved to look into because they would almost always be shining with joy, those eyes that Hinata could _feel_ the pain in her heart whenever she saw sadness in them…were gone, replaced with red ones that were like those of a monster's. _He…He does look like a monster!_ Hinata thought, worry filling her. But then she shook her head. Harshly. _No! No! He's still Naruto-kun! The same Naruto-kun he's always been! And he's not a monster! _Looking up at him, Hinata's fists clenched. _You can do this, Naruto-kun!_

Just then, Sasuke appeared behind Naruto and gave him a harsh kick, sending him tumbling to the ground. Hinata gasped slightly. _W-What should I do?!_ Hinata couldn't move. She didn't what she could to help the fight. This was the fight Naruto had been waiting for, for so long; she couldn't just interfere now! This was Naruto's fight and she had no place in it. But then again, she felt so helpless and useless just standing there and watching him get hurt, watching the Kyuubi come out and take over him.

_Come on, Naruto-kun! Don't let the Kyuubi take control over you!_ Hinata had heard the senseis talking about one of those incidents and she had been frightened. But she knew that Naruto had gotten a lot stronger after training with Jiraiya-sensei and now, back in Konoha, he had done a lot of training as well with Kakashi-sensei and Yamato-sensei. He had more control and she knew that if he kept a balanced state of mind, he would be able to defeat Sasuke.

Hinata bit her lip. _Oh, Naruto-kun. Please, stay strong! Don't lose hope! _

Naruto let out a feral roar all of a sudden, jumping down the ground, far from Sasuke. Sasuke followed, a distance of many meters between them. And as he was about to step forward to strike, Sasuke's ebony eyes widened, stopping in his tracks.

Naruto was _crying?_

Hot, angry, sad, frustrated tears rolled down Naruto's cheeks. And he opened his mouth, glaring at Sasuke, with a disappointment in his eyes as well. "I don't get it! I-I don't get it, Sasuke! We...Why did you leave? You-That snake monster isn't going to help you get any better!"

Sasuke's mouth twitched. "Shut up. You don't know anything."

"I know. I _know. _Trust me, Sasuke. I know _exactly _how you feel. Your loneliness. Y-Your _need _for power. Your _need _to be noticed."

"NO! _No_!" Sasuke turned his head away, gathering himself. "You don't know _anything_ what I've been through. You didn't have your entire family _murdered _by your own _brother. _You never even _had_ a family! I did. You never knew how it felt to be in a family! I did! And it was _taken_ away from me. Getting something you have taken away hurts way more than starting with nothing!"

Naruto gasped for air, his sobbing was increasing. He shook his head. "N-No. You're wrong, Sasuke. I _have_ had a family taken away. You. _You_, Sasuke. You, Kakashi, Sakura-chan were all my family, my friends. The _first_ people that cared for me. And you left. And then, slowly, Sakura-chan slipped away too. That hurts, too! Having your own family leave you _intentionally_. That hurts so much, Sasuke! You don't know that, however."

"That doesn't mean anything to me. I never considered any of you family, or even friends."

Naruto shook his head in disbelief. He swiped furiously at his eyes, a red tail disappearing, the other starting to fade. "Still in denial after all those times? All those times that you saved me and Sakura-chan on missions? All those times that we fought? All those times that we trained _together_? All of those times that we made plans on difficult missions that worked? L-Look at you! Look at us! When did we become like this? It was all so _perfect_ a few years ago!"

The other tail disappeared totally, and the reddish aura around him was starting to diminish as well. "You _bastard_...I-I trained for 3 years, constantly, so that I could be at your level, so that we could b-become stronger..._together_! I can't believe this. Why, Sasuke? Why? _Why?!_ Why do you want to bring us pain?! Why do you want to hurt Sakura-chan?! Why do you w-want _me_ hurt, Sasuke?! We were-_are_ friends! You were my _first_ friend, believe it or not, even though you annoyed the hell out of me and you were so cocky. _You were my first friend._

"A-And...Sasuke, I just don't understand. Why would you want to leave? We could have trained together! We could have gotten stronger together! I-I…" His eyes turned to the regular blue, soft color they were and he slumped to the ground, tears coming out even more intensely now. His voice cracked, becoming all raspy as his posture turned defeated, reflecting all the hardships in his life, reflecting how much he has tried, reflecting how much he has still _failed._

He looked up, through tears at Sasuke. "Please. J-Just come back. I can't _do_ this anymore. I'm so tired of chasing after you to no avail. Please. It'll be like before. Don't hurt inside anymore.

"_Please…"_

* * *

"Naruto!" Tsunade yelled. "What in the world-" she stopped her sentence to sigh. "Why haven't you gone to the hospital yet?! What were you-" This time she stopped her sentence in disbelief.

After all, who wouldn't be rendered speechless after _the_ Uchiha Sasuke walked in after Naruto's beaten up form?

Naruto, leaning heavily on Hinata for support, smiled at Tsunade, giving her a weak peace sign, with his signature smile. "Mission complete, Tsunade-obaa-chan," he said, nodding to the scrolls in Kiba's hands.

And that was the last thing he said before passing out from exhaustion.

The first thing Naruto saw when he opened his eyes was pink. _Pink hair...sakura petals...Sakura-chan!_

"S-Sakura-chan?" Naruto's voice was raspy from not using it in a while. He cleared his throat and sat up, ignoring his head that felt thrice the weight of his body. "W-Where's Sasuke?" he asked timidly, in a voice that was unlike him, afraid of the recent events just being a cruel dream.

"Sasuke-san? H-He's over there…" Sakura pointed to the bed that was on the other side of the room where Sasuke was sleeping. A blush took over Sakura's face and she looked at Naruto with sincerity. "Thank you, Naruto. Seriously." She leaned, and gave him a peck on the cheek in thanks.

Naruto blushed a bit, after all, Sakura had been his crush for years. _Had_. Which got him thinking…"Where's Hina-chan?"

Sakura raised her eyebrows at the affectionate nickname, noticing an obviously closer relationship between the two. "Uh…I don't know. I think she might be in the halls somewhere. She's been volunteering here for a while."

"Oh. Okay." He made a move to get up, but Sakura pushed him down. "Where do you think you're going?! You haven't healed yet! And from what I've heard, you went into your Kyuubi form for a while, so you need to have _extra_ rest."

"Sakura-chan! I'm fine, seriously. I don't feel sore or anything."

Before Sakura could say anything else, Naruto bolted out of the hospital room and went to the front desk, about to ask for Hinata's whereabouts, when he saw her coming down the hallway talking to another nurse.

"Hinata-chan!" He ran over, tackling her in a hug.

"Naruto-kun!" she scolded. "Aren't you supposed to still be in bed?! You're not supposed to be moving around so soon!" The other nurse had slipped away to give them privacy.

"It's okay! I feel fine. Gosh, all you worry too much about me!"

Hinata stayed quiet, tightening her arms around him.

Sensing the shift in the air around them, Naruto said, "Hinata-chan?"

In response, Hinata just held him tighter and allowed for a silence before speaking her thoughts. "I-I was so scared back there, Naruto-kun. Y-You were transforming. And I don't know, but then you started crying, and I felt so sad and scared, Naruto-kun."

Naruto's eyes saddened. "I…I'm sorry, Hinata-chan. I told you. This is why people are scared of me. I'm a monster."

Hinata gasped, wrenching away from him in disbelief. "N-No! No, Naruto-kun!" She touched his face to make him look at her. He was surprised with her boldness. "You're not. You are not a monster! You're Naruto-kun! And you're…you're perfect. I wasn't scared because of the Kyuubi, but because of the tears you cried and how hurt you must have felt. It scared me that I felt the pain that you felt in my heart. Th-That's just how much I love you."

Realizing what she just said, Hinata pulled away totally and covered her mouth, color rising to her cheeks. "I-I mean...oh, my God…I mean-"

She was pulled again into a hug, Naruto's breath tickling her ear as he laughed. "It's okay, Hinata. But...I won't say that back to you….yet. I don't know _exactly_ what I feel, but I do know this: I really, really, _really_ like you."

Hinata blushed even more so as Naruto pulled away just to lean in again closer, lips brushing against hers as he spoke. "And you look absolutely _adorable_ in your nurse outfit."

And to hide her embarrassment, she closed the almost nonexistent space between their lips.

* * *

**Author's Note**:

_And that is the end of this fanfiction! Sorry if it seems rushed or unrealistic! D: To be honest, I don't really like this story that much. But I would hate to discontinue a story, so I just made this (sloppy) chapter. So, once again, sorry if it wasn't what you guys were expected or wanted. I have a hard time writing in the actual world of Naruto because you have so many things to take account for and remember, and the plot is very limited to the shinobi world. I prefer to make up my own worlds with my own plots. Haha. _

_Please support my other stories, that are (very, very slowly) being updated._

_And, as always, thank you so, so much for taking time out of your day to read my story. It means more than you will ever fathom. Please review to show me your support and to tell me your comments and opinions. Constructive criticism is always appreciated! _

_Thank you again! _

**~ booklover**


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